Like Batteries and Baking- These are the Days of our Lives
by NovaArbella
Summary: Arthur and Molly Weasley- A slideshow of ten important moments in their lives together. A series of connected drabbles written for the Diagon AlleyII Battleships challenge. Now complete.
1. When Arthur Met Molly

This series is being written for the Diagon AlleyII Battleships challenge. I am captaining the USS Batteries and Baking, the Arthur and Molly ship. This drabble series will most likely be my last writings in the HP fandom, aside from my main multi chapter story, Hogwarts' Muggle.

When Arthur Met Molly

"Molly and Arthur Weasley," a voice in the darkness says. "This is your life."

A screen appears in the middle of the room, showing pictures of both Molly and Arthur as young children, far too young to have wands yet.

"Arthur Weasley," the voice continues, while the picture of Arthur swoops to the foreground of the screen and the picture of Molly shrinks and blurs a bit, moving to the background. "Born February sixth, nineteen-fifty. Son of Septimus and Cedrella Weasley. From a very early age, Arthur was fascinated by Muggle objects."

The little Arthur in the projected picture grins at the camera and proudly holds out a set of Muggle key chains, all strung together in a row. A gentle rolling laughter comes out of the darkness as Arthur's picture shrinks down and Molly's picture comes into focus, growing a bit and moving to the foreground. Little Molly, in diapers, toddles after her two brothers, waving a floppy cloth doll. A collective "Awwwww" is heard from the darkness as the voice goes on.

"Molly Prewett, born October thirtieth, nineteen..."

A screech interrupts the narrative as a new voice cries out a stern warning, causing gales of laughter to come out of the darkness. "Don't you DARE say the rest, George!"

"Damnit, woman, you're ruining the effect," comes the reply over the settling chuckles. "You've made me lose my place." Some shuffling can be heard before the story continues. "Ah, right, here we are."

The picture changes to one of an eleven year old Arthur and Molly at Hogwarts, both in Gryffindor scarlet and gold scarves. They are part of a small group of other new Gryffindors, all proudly gripping their wands and trying not to look terrified as they wave enthusiastically at the camera. "Both Arthur and Molly were sorted into Gryffindor House, so, you could probably say that it was inevitable that they would meet. It wasn't until a month into their first term that Molly finally had cause to speak directly with Arthur, asking if he had a spare quill that she could borrow, as hers had broken. Arthur, in true Weasley fashion, proceeded to spill his entire ink bottle all over himself in his attempt to find a quill for Molly to borrow. And thus, Arthur met Molly."

Suddenly the picture of Molly and Arthur and the other Gryffindors is obscured by a black blob, that look much like spilled ink, and the laughter from the darkness peals again.


	2. There's Something About Molly

There's Something about Molly

The 'ink stain' clears and the picture has changed. The laughter fades as a shot of Arthur and Molly sitting together at a Quidditch game replacs the previous picture of the happy, waving Gryffindor students.

The voice out of the dark continues, "After a few years of friendship, wherein many things were learned and loads of happy, funny little events occurred, I'm sure, little Arthur and Molly grew to the age where the opposite sex is no longer icky," George's voice suddenly sounds a bit strained, "and boys start noticing... things about girls." He rushes the last bit, as if extremely glad to be done with that portion of the story. "During this time, friendship grew into fondness and apparently fondness leads to sneaking out of Gryffindor tower and taking midnight walks around school grounds, which is against the rules, I might add... mom!"

"Your father planned the whole thing and dragged me out there!"

"I thought it would be romantic, how was I supposed to know that we'd run into Peeves on the way back?"

"You have no idea the amount of lectures I endured during my childhood about staying in Gryffindor tower, folks!" There is a pause for laughter before the story continues. "Unfortunately for our young lovebirds, their first official date ended in semi disaster, as the pair was discovered by the school caretaker, with a little help from Peeves, and Arther wound up with a weeks worth of detentions while Molly was able to squeak away, undetected, to receive a simple lecture from the portrait of The Fat Lady. What Molly didn't know at the time, and in fact, is still unaware of even now, is that Arthur sent her ahead while hanging back, assuring that he would be the only one caught during the whole ordeal."

Molly turns to Arthur in surprise. With a blush and a nod, Arthur silently confirms the story. Once again the sound of a collective "Awwww" can be heard as more pictures sweep onto the screen. Some show just Molly or just Arthur, some show both, some are group shots, all encompass their Hogwarts years. One particularly amusing shot shows a grinning Arthur standing over Molly, who had seemingly fallen asleep in the library.

"Once Arthur managed to serve all the detentions his grand first date scheme netted him - I guess it runs in the family- it wasn't uncommon for Arthur and Molly to be found studying together, or accompanying each other on Hogsmeade trips. Slowly, fondness began to bloom into something perhaps, a little bit more."


	3. Kissing Molly Prewett

Kissing Molly Prewett

Suddenly there is a bit of a shuffling noise, like someone is being pushed around against their will. After a bit of incomprehensible muttering, the narrating voice changes. Now it is feminine, and a bit exasperated.

"I'll apparently be telling you the next little bit of the story because my older brother can't stand to think of his parents as human beings with wants and desires."

"Awww Merlin, Ginny, do you have to put it like that?"

"Hush or I'm making you do this part too."

An exasperated groan is heard from George. "Well, get on with it then."

The crowd chuckles at the siblings as pictures dance across the screen again, now showing various shots of young Arthur and Molly doing things like holding hands, sharing books, or sitting with their arms around each other's shoulders, obviously dating. One particularly cute shot shows the two hovering over a bubbling cauldron. Photo-Arthur accidentally elbows Molly as he tries to cut up a puffapod, unbalancing Molly on her stool and causing her to crash out of sight. The look of horror on photo-Arthur's face as he stares down, out of view of the bottom border of the picture, draws another chuckle out of the crowd. Eventually a shot of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop pops up and holds for a bit. Ginny continues,

"After their disastrous first date, Arthur decided that he better try something else to woo Molly, so that Valentine's Day, he asked Molly to tea at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade. To hear mom tell it, the couple had a lovely time and shared their very first kiss. If you believe dad, it was a horribly stressful afternoon of worrying if his palms were too sweaty or if he was boring her with his talk of his Muggle Studies class.

"I kissed you just to get you to stop talking about fellytishion and automocars," Molly says fondly.

"And I let you think it worked so that now, whenever I want a kiss, I just start up about refrigmerators or washdishers," Arthur answers slyly.

"Oi! You've got children and grandchildren here that you're scaring for life, you two!"

"RON!" groans every voice in the room.

"What? That's just common decency, that is, not to make googley eyes at each other in front of such a crowd!"

There are several muffled slapping sounds, accompanied by a yelp or two from Ron before Ginny's voice continues, "Whatever the reason, one kiss turned to two, turned to dozens, turned to hundreds."

"Ginny!" George complains.

Exasperated, Ginny retorts, "Then you do it!"


	4. Meet the Prewetts

Meet the Prewetts

There is a bit more shuffling and a few giggles before George's voice rings out again through the darkness. "Anyway, onward it is." Now pictures of Arthur and Molly's parents fill the screen, each taking up a quarter of the available space. "After seeing each other exclusively for some time at school, inevitability, it was time to meet the parents. These meetings took place during the summer between the lovebird's sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts."

Both Molly and Arthur groan in a highly audible, but good natured way.

"George, I'm not sure this is appropriate for the setting..." Arthur ventures, but George goes ahead as if he didn't hear.

"As one might expect, the visit from Molly to Arthur's parents went fairly well, and consisted of a lovely dinner, where Molly only slightly embarrassed herself by beaning Grampa Septimus with a salad plate while helping to clear the table. Arthur and his love of Muggle gifts, on the other hand..."

The picture changes and the crowd roars with laughter as they watch photo-Arthur proudly trying to present the Prewett's with what appeared to be a full sized, blow up, person-shaped type of balloon.

Molly hides her face in her hands, laughing so hard that tears roll down her cheeks. "I thought Daddy was going to curse you right there and then," she hiccups between guffaws.

"The box said 'hours of fun!'" Arthur protests, blushing madly.

Several voices at once cry out, "DAD!", while the picture hastily changes and a few mothers shush the curious questions of their children.

The new picture shows a shot of both sets of parents, along with Arthur and Molly. Most of the group are sporting huge grins, except for Mr. Prewett, who is glaring daggers at Arthur when he's not looking.

"Despite what it looks like in this picture, Granda Prewett eventually warmed up to Arthur enough to let him come to the house to pick up Molly as they continued to date all through the summer."

More shots of Arthur and Molly flash by, some eliciting giggles, or cooing. In a particularly touching photo, Arthur and Molly are seen grinning and waving at the camera as they stand on a beach. Suddenly the sky opens up and rain drenches the couple. Arthur pulls out his wand and casts a Shield Charm, shielding them from the downpour as Arthur brushes Molly's wet hair off of her face.

"The couple finish out their seventh and final year at Hogwart's, after which, Arthur applied for and received an entry level job in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department at the Ministry of Magic."


	5. My Big Fat Weasley Wedding

My Big Fat Weasley Wedding

"In a fit of celebratory high spirits, Arther asked Molly to marry him." George continues. "In grand romantic fashion, I might add."

The picture shifts to the classic shot of Arthur on one knee in front of Molly, holding out a ring box. Molly, who is holding flowers, and hiding her face in her hands, silently nods yes. Photo-Arthur jumps up and lifts photo Molly high in the air, spinning her around and pulling her down for a passionate kiss.

"Their wedding was held at the home of Arthur's parents, in usual Weasley tradition."

A new set of pictures swoop across the screen, showing scenes of everyone setting up a wedding tent. People hang bunting and tulle over anything that doesn't move, and then cover it all in flowers. A few shots of the finished preparations flash by and one can't help but notice how similar they are to most of the Weasley weddings that had been held over the last ten or so years.

"And of course, also in the usual tradition, a lovely time was had by all. The bride was radiant."

A picture of a glowing young Molly in all her wedding finery dominates the screen. Mr. Prewett can be seen in the background holding back tears in a very manly fashion.

"The groom was nervous."

Now a shot of Arthur trying to put his pants on backward makes the crowd titter with laughter.

"And the mothers-in-law-to-be directed everyone on exactly how to execute every part of the day."

The tittering continues at a shot of both mothers-in-law instructing Mr. Weasley Sr to do two contradicting things with the bit of bunting in his hands. Mr. Weasley Sr stands helplessly and glances into the camera with something like fear in his eyes.

"And the only disaster of the day was that crazy aunt Gertrude Weasley mistook the event for her birthday and was upset when Molly and Arthur cut 'her' cake."

On the screen, crazy aunt Gertrude can be seen repeatedly hitting Arthur with her purse until some relatives gently pull her away. Photo Arthur straightens his tie, smooths his hair, and goes back to Molly, who is still holding the cake knife, looking a bit stunned.

"Can we move it along here? I'm starving!" another voice calls out before George can continue.

"Honestly Ron! You're worse than Hugo!" a new voice says exasperatedly. "You were the same at Hogwarts. Just hush!"

"Sorry 'Mione," Ron mutters as the pictures continue to flash across the screen. Shot's of the couple's vows and first kiss elicit a sniffle from Molly. Arthur pats her hand and lays a kiss on her forehead.


	6. Two Weasley's and a Baby

Two Weasley's and a Baby

George continues, "First come loves, then comes marriage, then comes... well a house, actually, but that doesn't rhyme well, so let's go with that baby carriage version."

A new picture appears on the screen. It shows a very proud Arthur and Molly, in front of the Burrow. But it's not the Burrow as everyone has come to know it. All there is, is the main structure of the house, before all the topsy turvy floors had been added on.

"Obviously there would be some additions to the house over the course of time. The first being..."

The picture changes again and is now of an even prouder Arthur and Molly, holding little baby Bill, who was wailing away and thrashing his little fists in the air. As George continued, more pictures of each of the Weasley children flashed across the screen.

"Of course, Bill was just the first. Many more followed."

A picture of both Fred and George holds on screen and a sad hush falls over the crowd. Molly sniffles again and Arthur pulls her into a hug.

"Sorry, folks," George's voice is suddenly tight. "It didn't feel right not to mention him. We love you and miss you everyday, Fred. We're grateful for your sacrifice and the sacrifices of everyone we lost during that awful dark time."

There is a pause as a round of applause starts amongst the crowd and slowly grows as people stand in appreciation of Fred and all the other heroes lost to the war against Voldemort. Someone whistles, then someone whoops, and soon everyone is stomping their feet, and beating their hands together, clinking glasses, and just generally cheering. The noise is deafening and takes a few minutes to subside.

George continues, "I'm sure Fred would be thrilled to know that he is still alive and well and exasperating professors within the halls of Hogwarts, as dozens of fine products from Weasley's Wizard Weezes. Well, let's get a move on this before Ron wastes away to nothing waiting for dinner to be served."

"Bill, Charlie, Percy, me and Fred, Ron, and finally Ginny. It took seven tries for mom to get the girl she hoped for, but finally, the Weasley family was complete."

Numerous shots of all the Weasley children parade across the screen, graduating in age as everyone grew up. There were countless instances of Molly chastising the twins over broken or burned bits of mischief. Everyone's first day at Hogwarts flashed by and the Hogwarts Express could be seen in the background of most. Prefect shots for most of the children flew by, along with graduation poses.

"Eventually mom all but adopted Harry and Hermione, which is good, because I don't think Ron had a chance with her if she wasn't essentially living with us over the summer,"


	7. Sunday in the Park with Arthur

Sunday in the Park with Arthur

"Of course, no mention of the entire Weasley family is complete without an embarrassing family story, or two. Now I could tell you about the time we all tried to eat dinner out at a Muggle restaurant and Dad forgot the Muggle money and had to subtly Obliviate the waitress, but everyone knows that one already."

Several shots of the entire Weasley family out and about and having fun flash by on the screen. There are shots of picnics and fireworks displays, as well as family broom rides, and a whole series of the family at the beach. By the end of the beach photos, every Weasley had skin as red as their hair.

"Ahh, and as you can see in this shot, it doesn't pay to forget the skin protector spells. I will say, that day carries fond memories of burying Ron up to his neck in sand and then being cussed out by mom for covering his head up with a beach chair and forgetting him for an hour. When we remembered him, a crab had started to try to take up residence in his ear."

George pauses for the stifled and somewhat sympathetic laughter of the crowd before continuing on, "But, to tell you the truth, the day I really remember was the day dad decided that we should all try camping out as the Muggles do. He got some rope and some blankets so that he could make a tent as he'd seen countless times at Muggle campsites, and he herded everyone out for a hike, because that was also, apparently what Muggles did while camping."

Multiple shots of an extremely happy looking Arthur and his less enthusiastic clan swoop onto the screen as George tells the story.

"So we hiked and we hiked and sometimes we sang, but mostly we complained. We hiked until it was dark and Dad figured that we ought to stop and make camp and a fire and cook some food. So he tied some rope between two trees and slung the blanket over it so it looked something like the tents the Muggles used. Or it was close anyway."

A shot of Arthur wrestling the blanket up and over the rope makes the crowd chuckle some more.

"We hunted around in the dark for firewood and Dad spent some time trying to rub two sticks together to make fire before Mom finally got exasperated enough to use her wand. She also made some improvements to the tent while Dad wasn't looking."

A new picture shows the effects of Molly's spells, as the 'tent' now resembles more of a house made of sheets than anything else.

"So we ate and sat by the fire and eventually went to sleep. When we woke up the next morning, we realized that we could hear people, so we peeked out of the tent and found out that dad had managed to hike us to the outskirts of the nearest town, right into the large new park that had just been put in. We'd pretty much spent the night right in the middle of the fields where the Muggles would play their sports. That was an awkward morning, let me tell you."


	8. A Day in the Life of Arthur Weasley

A Day in the Life of Arthur Weasley

"So, pretty much everyone knows of our Dad's legendary love of all things Muggle. And legendary is probably even an understatement."

The crowd chuckles and Arthur blushes, but only Molly can see, and she's too busy laughing to notice much.

"I'm not sure if everyone truly understands what I mean here, so let's just share a few shots of Dad's Muggle collection, and workshop, where he most definitely doesn't muck about, putting spells on Muggle items."

The crowd snickers as a montage of the insides of Arthur's shed plays on the screen. Countless extension cords, kitchen devices, tools, and other Muggle bits and bobs can be seen, all neatly laid out, hung on walls, or tucked into shelves.

"Now, I'll tell you folks a little secret, Mom actually found out about this slide show during her weekly rummaging, I mean cleaning, of the house. She found us all searching through the picture books and did what she does best, guilted us into telling her what was going on. Then, she suggested that it might be a fun idea to surreptitiously follow Dad around for the day and take some pictures, so that everyone could see what a day in the life of Arthur Weasley is like, which, of course, would center a lot around that work shed. Well, of course that sounded like a smashing idea, so we did it. And now, I'll tell you all something Mom doesn't know; we followed her around too."

"Oh George, really!" Molly exclaims.

"What?" George answers, "Did you think a day in the life of Molly Weasley wouldn't be interesting too?"

Several pictures pop onto the screen. "Now, as I'm sure you'll notice, it's still dark when Molly wakes up." The first picture shows Molly, her hair a wild tangled mess, rising from the bed and making her side of the covers, while Arthur sleeps on.

"It doesn't take long for Arthur to start undoing all of Molly's tidying." The next picture comes into focus, showing a still sleeping Arthur rolling over, taking the covers with him and mussing up Molly's neat side of the bed. The crowd chortles.

"While Arthur sleeps, Molly gets busy tidying and cooking and meddling with whichever child or grandchild happened to have spent the night." The next shot shows Molly using her wand to complete her chores. Things fly onto and off of shelves and cupboards and anyone in the vicinity is obliged to duck or get beaned.

"Breakfast follows, for which it's possible for just about anyone to floo in for, so Mom always makes way more food than would seem necessary." A new shot shows just Molly sitting in front of mountains of food, but slowly the table fills as other members of the Weasley family show up and start loading plates. Arthur shuffles in, looking unsurprised to see most of his family there already.

"Now, to tell you the truth folks, after this breakfast, I kind of got sleepy and had a bit of a nap. When I woke up, it was dark again and everyone was already back in bed...so that's about as far as we can get in this day of Arthur and Molly's life. Sorry about that."

Ginny gives an exasperated sigh, "Really, George? You said you got it all and were all set. I knew I should have done the 'day in the life' pictures!"

"Calm down Ginny. This thing is already way longer than it should be. If we did the whole day, ickle Ronniekins really might die of starvation. OK! Moving on, folks!"


	9. The Wild and Wonderful Weasley's

The Wild and Wonderful Weasley's from Ottery St Catchpole

"Now, I'm sure that you folks noticed from that last shot, or just from the fact that you really can't swing a dead Hippogriff without hitting a Weasley, that our family has grown quite a lot over this last decade or so. And no slide show about a couples life would be complete without mention of the grand kids, so here we go!"

Shots of Bill and Fleur's Victoire fly onto the screen. A large picture of an ecstatic Molly and Arthur holding her and grinning and waving at the camera dominates the rest.

"First came little Victoire, born on the anniversary of the battle of Hogwarts. I think they really nailed it with the name. When Bill and Fleur announced their pregnancy, the family went nuts. If it's one thing that the Weasley's love, it's a baby."

Several shots of Molly and a very pregnant Fleur flash on the screen. In most of them, Molly is cooing at Fleur's tummy or holding little knit things up to it for sizing purposes.

"Now, Bill and Fleur were quite...er... productive and Victoire was soon followed by Dominique, and Louis before any of the rest of us even had a chance to get going on the next generation of Weasleys."

Shots of the three veela siblings pan across the screen as George goes on.

"After that, things started to really pick up and for a few years, there were Weasley birth announcements flying around everywhere. Mom was basically beside herself with happiness this whole time. I don't think she put her knitting needles down once between the time little Molly and little Lily were born."

A picture of Grandma Molly practically buried in knitted baby things flashes on screen. The crowd gives a collective Awwwwww.

"So, in addition to Victoire, Dominique, and Louis, we've also got little Molly, little Fred – just as handsome as his dad, I might add, totally unbiased – and James Sirius. Closely following were Rose and Albus Severus. Then came the babies, Lily Luna, Hugo, Lucy, and Roxanne – who thankfully took after her beautiful mother."

A whole series of shots of all the Weasley grandchildren parade across the screen. There are baby shots right up through first lost tooth shots, and photos of everyone with their first wands.

"Needless to say, the grand kids spend a lot of time with Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur, and they love every single second of it. Especially Christmas time."

A picture of the over loaded Burrow shows on the screen and the crowd laughs again as they watch the utter chaos that comes when the Wealsey clan all occupy the same space at the same time.


	10. Love Is All You Need

Love Is All You Need

"And that's about it folks. Mom, stop crying. With the last of the grandkids, that brings us right up to today and the whole reason we're all gathered here. I know we'd all like to wish Molly and Arthur a very happy fiftieth wedding anniversary!"

George gestures at the screen one last time as one more photo passes by, eliciting one final group laugh. The shot shows Arthur and Molly arriving at the anniversary party, expecting a simple dinner with the entire family, surprised by the amount of people in attendance. As it fades from the screen, the lights come up, revealing the insides of the Leaky Cauldron, all the tables full of people. Everyone stands and applauds.

Molly sobs and hides her face against Arthur's arm. Even Arthur looks misty as he gazes around at the dozens and dozens of familiar faces.

When the applause finally dies down, George speaks again, "Now, I don't think the night would be complete without a speech from the happy couple while dinner is being served."

Wizard waiters in formal robes appear with silver covered trays hovering in front of them. Ron stops applauding and grabs his knife and fork in eager anticipation, visibly disappointed when they start serving the tables in the back first.

"Oh George, really," Molly says, wiping her eyes, "I'd have prepared something if I'd known that you were going to say that."

"Exactly the reason I didn't tell you I was going to. Even you can't know absolutely everything in advance, mom. Now, speech! Speech!"

He continues to chant and soon the whole crowd is calling for a speech. Arthur rises, pulling Molly up with him. "I'd just like to thank every person here today for being here and showing such love. We've all been through some horrible things together in the past and I know that, without Molly, I wouldn't have made it through to the end." He turns and speaks directly to Molly. "And I want to thank you, Molly, for putting up with me for these last fifty years. I want to thank you for our seven beautiful children, and all the care and love you give your family everyday. Thank you for being the best wife, mother, and grandmother there possibly could be."

Now Molly is bawling and Ginny and Hermione have joined her. Harry pats Ginny on the back, Ron looks for the waiters. Once Molly gets a hold of herself most of the room has been served and the waiters are laying the food in front of the large table that holds all the Weasley's and the Potter's.

"Thank you all for being here today to share in the love that we have for you all. Arthur, I love you with all my heart and I will until the day I die."

Molly sits as another round of applause thunders through the building. Slowly pockets of chat begin to break out as everyone eats and enjoys the almost palpable feeling of love and contentment they had all found while watching the affection that the Weasley's hold for each other.

* * *

AN: Well that's all folks. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks to all the people who have reviewed, I'd love to hear more of what people think of my take on this challenge, which was to write a 500-2500 word story on each of the ten prompts: First Encounter, First Date, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Wedding, First Child, A Family Outing, A Slice of Life Moment, First Grandchild, Anniversary.


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